


My Treasure

by BluePlanetTrash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Injured Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Pirate Lance, Temporary Character Death, Voltron au, mer shiro, mermaid shiro, shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-20 00:02:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14248704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePlanetTrash/pseuds/BluePlanetTrash
Summary: Prompt if you choose to accept it! Pirate!Lance who got hurt or something and ends up getting saved by Mer!Shiro.





	1. Chapter 1

Out of everything that Lance had ever earned, stole or was given, he was the proudest of his ship. She was everything a pirate could ask for; fast, durable, armed to the teeth, and incredibly seaworthy. 

His crew was filled with all the people that he had rescued in the past; whether it had been helping them escape the law on the islands they visited or fishing them out of the ocean if they became castaways. He gave each of them an equal chance to prove themselves as a member of his crew or he would drop them at the next island they came across, it was always their choice.

His right-hand man was a man named Barnes. He never told Lance his last name but at that time he wasn’t really concerned about it, they all had their secrets and it wasn’t any of his business. He had been with Barnes the longest, he was the one who dragged Lance out of the slums when he couldn’t do it himself. He raised him up to be who he was now and although, it wasn’t the cleanest job he could have, it was certainly better than laying to die and rot in the streets.

He was much older than Lance and acted as his father more than a right-hand man. Not that Lance was really complaining, ever since he was young he craved the sort of familiarity of a family that he had always been missing. 

In fact, most of the people in Lance’s crew were older than him. Some by a few years, some by a few decades but no matter who it was, he tried his best to earn their trust and so far it had paid off. They had become his family. He really did have a crew that was worth fighting for. They would give up their lives for him and he would do the same for them.

It wouldn’t always be like that though.

Everything started when they rescued five people from the waters surrounding a recently sunken ship. They weren’t sure who they were or if they were allies or not but Lance couldn’t stand to leave them to drown in the ocean when he could at least give them a chance.

He learned later on that Lotor was the captain of his own crew but the military had sunk their boat and all but the four young woman were left of his crew. Now, Lance wasn’t too unfamiliar with the concept of women who had become pirates but he had never come across one either. To be honest, he wasn’t expecting to in his lifetime. He was worried at first that the men of his crew would try to take advantage of their small number but quickly realized that the largest one; Zethrid could easily rip another person in half and the rest of them were equally as dangerous.

Needless to say, they tried to keep their distance after that.

He agreed to take them to the next island as long as they worked for their stay on his ship, it wasn’t cheap to keep people alive out on the ocean and having five extra mouths to feed didn’t make it any easier on the rest of the crew.

However, they seemed to be grateful for the deal and they made themselves scarce among the bustling activity of his crew. After that, it became business as normal, or so he thought.  

* * *

He woke one night to a pulsating pain in his face. He quickly realized that he had been punched by Zethrid and was being ripped out of his bed by his shirt. He let out a yelp as he fell to the floor and barely prepared himself before Zethrid was back on him throwing punch after punch anywhere that she could reach. She reeled back for another hit when Acxa’s hand came down on her shoulder and pulled her back slightly.

“You’re not supposed to kill him, Lotor still needs him,” she said calmly as if she wasn’t seeing a human, being heavily beaten in front of her. Zethrid snarled before huffing and standing up, a clump of Lance’s shirt clenched in her fist.

“Well let’s go then, hopefully, those idiots did their job this time,” she growled before she started dragging Lance from his quarters. It was only when they were outside that Lance realized that a storm was swirling around them. Rain pelted against the deck and thunder and lightning struck in the distance.

He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the military crew standing guard around his kneeling men. They were tied with their hands behind their backs and attached to the person beside them. He tried to call out to them but only a sad croak came out of his throat.

“Ahh, the man of the evening has come to join us!” Lotor smirked, calling loudly over the sound of the rain. At that, his crew looked up and saw their young captain, dressed only in his undershirt and trousers, bloody and beaten blue and black.

“LANCE!” Barnes called out helplessly, struggling against the soldier that held him. He ignored him to look over at Lotor who was slowly making his way over.

“So Lance, I have an offer for you,” he finally said as he stood in front of him.

“That’s Captain Lance to you!” One of his crew members yelled.

“Not anymore,” Lotor laughed. “Here’s what I’m prepared to offer, you can either choose to live and we kill every member of your crew right now or you can choose to hand over your ship and your crew gets to stay safe and you die instead,”

“Kill me,” he said without a beat of hesitation. Instantly, the deck was filled with disapproving yells and screams. Lotor himself had a look of utter surprise on his face.

“How interesting,” he purred before turning to look at the rest of the crew. “You heard the man, you’ll be safe and sound on this ship, under my control,”

“Any last words?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at Lance. He took a deep breath and nodded slightly before facing his former crew. As he started speaking the soldiers prepared the ship to finally set sail out of the storm region.

“Don’t waste this opportunity you’ve been given, take it as a second chance and try to live,” Acxa started tying his hands around his back. He barely put up a fight, knowing that it would be the end soon for him anyway. As Zethrid dragged him up to stand, he stared over at Barnes.

“Thank you for picking me up that day, if it wasn’t for you I’d still be a ratty kid starving on the streets,”

“Lance, don’t do this!” Barnes pleaded looking at him with wide sorrowful eyes.

“I have to,” was all he got out before he was dragged away.

He was going to die. He was going to die and they would never be able to find his body. He was going to die and it wouldn’t be quick for him. He was going to die in pain and afraid.

He stood on the railing of his own ship, waves crashing against the side of the boat as the harsh wind swept along the water. In the distance, lightning struck down and thunder rumbled angrily above them. For the last time, he looked back to his crew with a painfully wobbling smile, the fear of death showing on his face in his last moments.

“It’s been an honour,” he said confidently. 

He watched them, their eyes full of devastation and rage. He could see their mouths moving although he couldn’t hear what they were saying. 

He let out an involuntary gasp as he was shoved from behind and he careened into the water below. All the air left his lungs as he hit the surface of the ocean. He struggled to kick back to the surface for a single gulp of air. His ship, his girl was floating away from him. He cried out as the ship rapidly left his sights, the rain obscuring his view. The salt stung at his open wounds and a howl of anguish finally escaped his throat.

She was gone. The Blue Lion was gone, and he was never going to see her again. 

Even as the understanding of his imminent death made way in his mind, he tried to swim after his home. Tears of fear and desperation coursed down his cheeks, hiding in the rain and seawater that already covered his face.

It only took a few minutes of struggling for his legs to become exhausted and he started sinking. His legs screamed at any movement, his body was sore from Zethrid’s punches, and his heart broke thinking about his crew and ship.

His body sank further into the dark abyss beneath him. He tried desperately to kick back to the surface but his legs were no longer listening to him. Whoever said that drowning was a peaceful death was a liar, he struggled and struggled to break free of the ropes but could only slip further beneath the water. He choked on the water that started filling his mouth.

Just as his eyes began to slip shut he saw something moving rapidly towards him. He saw nothing but silver eyes coming towards him before everything turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

All Lance could feel when he woke up was pain. His head was pounding, his face was sore, his body felt like he was run over by wild animals.

He blinked his eyes open and squinted up at the trees that were shading him. All he remembered was the sensation of drowning.

Was he dead?

He didn’t think he would be in that much pain if he was actually dead. But if he wasn’t dead, how did he get there and how did his arms get untied?

He shakily pushed himself up and looked around, the first thought that came to his mind was ‘beautiful’. He was laying on the white sand of a beach cove, as turquoise water lapped at his feet. Sunlight sparkled off the small waves that made it to shore and he could see fish darting around underneath the water.

“How did I get here?” He asked himself eyes darting around the area. He jumped when the trees behind him rustled and he hesitantly looked over his shoulder.

He let out a loud gasp and attempted to drag himself away only for his arm to give out and fall back to the sand.

It was a merperson. A shark merperson. He had never seen on before, or any merperson at all really. He looked human but he knew that it was just his magic that transformed him. The only things that he noticed that were different were the pointed ears, visibly thicker skin, and grey patches on his body.

“Oh, you’re up,” he said walking closer to Lance. Lance watched him with wide cautious eyes and curled up on himself as he approached. He noticed as he spoke that he also had sharp teeth.

As he crouched down beside Lance, he finally got his legs underneath him and attempted to run away only to buckle at the knees. Before he could hit the sand, hands went around his waist and caught him gently.

“Easy there, you’re hurt,” the merperson said calmly and carefully laid him back down on the beach. Lance watched him with wide eyes, unsure as to why he was helping him. Everything that he had heard about merpeople had been that they were vicious, ugly, and would always go for the kill on a human. This one though was gentle and careful, and incredibly attractive.

At the thought, Lance’s face and ears lit up with red.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” The merperson asked frantically, squishing Lance’s face in his hands and inspecting it.

“I’m fine,” Lance answered pulling his hands off his face. The merperson was looking at him with worried silver eyes. The same silver he saw before he blacked out in the water. He let out a gasp and pointed at him in realization.

“You’re the one that saved me,” he blurt out in shock. He nodded his head with a smile.

“I’m Shiro,”

“Lance,” he replied slightly stunned. “Why did you save me?”

Shiro blinked in surprise and tilted his head as if the question confused him.

“You were in trouble, were you not? Why wouldn’t I save you?” He asked.

“I-I don’t know really, well I didn’t expect merpeople to be like this,” he admitted quietly. Surprisingly Shiro let out a laugh instead.

“Believe it or not, I’m not like most merfolk,” he said with a quick smile. “I’m guessing you came across the stories that merfolk are dangerous and sink ships,”

“Well…yes,”

“I’m not like that I promise, I just saw a human getting tossed into the sea during a storm, I couldn’t just watch you die,” he said quietly, staring into Lance’s eyes. “Especially after seeing how much you fought for your life,”

Lance’s eyes widened at the serious tone but surprisingly he wasn’t frightened of him. He nodded and looked down at the ground in front of him.

“Thank you,” he said looking back up at Shiro. He didn’t know what else he could say to him besides that. He didn’t know who he was or why he was there that night but at that point it didn’t really matter. He didn’t have anything left now; he was without his home, his family, and any means of survival.

He looked up to see Shiro studying him.

“You can go now, you’ve done your job, I’m alive,” he said with a shooing motion aimed at the merman. Surely, he didn’t want to stay and Lance wasn’t going to force him either. He had done enough just pulling him out of the ocean.

“What do you mean? I can’t just leave you out here alone,” he argued. “You can barely walk, how are you supposed to forage for food? Or find water?”

Lance pouted and looked away again. It was true that it would be painful to get up and look for those things but…

“You shouldn’t have to stay here because of me,” he muttered. “You’ve already done so much for me,”

“Lance, all I did was drag you out of the ocean,”

 **“** All you did,” Lance parroted sarcastically.

“I’m a merman, I swim,” he shot back blankly.

“Look I appreciate what you’re doing but you don’t need to help me,” Lance tried and looked away hoping that when he looked back Shiro would be gone.

“That’s unfortunate because I’m going to help you anyway,” he said boredly.

“What?” Lance turned back and only saw Shiro diving into the water.

* * *

He came back later that night as Lance was trying to start a fire out of the meagre pile of firewood he was able to collect before he was in too much pain and had to sit down again.

“Let me help you,” he offered. Lance looked over at him in surprise.

“Oh, you’re back,”

“I told you that I was going to help you,” he stated as if it was obvious. Lance sighed but didn’t try to argue again. With a snap of Shiro’s fingers there was a blaze in front of them and Lance looked over at him with wide eyes.

“Never seen magic before?” He asked with a smirk.

“Well, no and I didn’t expect you to have fire magic,” he said with a tilt of his head.

“Magic isn’t just limited to merfolk, we all use the same spells,” he explained quickly. He stood up and went back to the water’s edge to pick up two fish. He held it out expectantly to Lance before plopping himself down and sinking his teeth into it. Lance watched him with mild disgust before he shook his head and started searching for a stick to cook with.

* * *

As the days passed, he found himself getting lost in the new life he found on that island. He started finding beauty in the little cove and forest that surrounded him at all times. He could lay on the beach for hours just listening to everything around him. With every passing moment, he was falling in love with Shiro.

When they would explore the forest together, he couldn’t help but notice the way the sun lit up his face through the trees or how pushed his hair back when he came out of the water.

He started noticing the little things he did that brightened his day. The way he snorted a little when he laughed or how he always brought Lance back something when he got them food. Most of the time they were little, coloured seashells but occasionally he would bring him pearls. He always handed them to Lance with a small blush and waited for some sort of sign of approval before his smile would come back.

He didn’t know how long he had been in that cove but it felt like months and they were some of the best months of his life.

* * *

“I want to show you something,” Shiro said one night. It was approaching night time, they had already set up the fire and fish was cooking for Lance by the flames.

“What is it?” He asked hesitantly.

“It’s a surprise,” he whispered mysteriously, although there was an excited smile on his face. Lance huffed out a laugh and nodded his head in agreement. His heart warmed slightly as Shiro’s smile widened.

Shiro waited patiently for Lance to finish his dinner before they were both up and he was practically dragging Lance through the forest. It had gotten much darker than before and Lance trusted Shiro’s night vision to get them through safely.

They were starting towards the far side of the island, somewhere Lance hadn’t been before but instead, Shiro pushed through a veil of hanging vines and into a dark cavern. It felt like the floor was becoming steeper and he clasped tighter onto Shiro so he wouldn’t slip.

He blinked his eyes as the darkness slowly lifted as they got further in until they were approaching an exit back outside.

Shiro stopped him right before they got to the opening and moved behind him to cover his eyes with his hands.

Carefully he walked out, holding onto Shiro’s wrists. A wide smile was plastered on his face as he tried to think of all the possibilities.

“Ready?” Shiro asked. Lance nodded his head before Shiro moved his hands.

He blinked his eyes open and his mouth dropped open in shock.

“Do you like it?” Shiro asked hesitantly, his hands wringing around each other.

“I love it,” he breathed out. Laid out before him was a sea of stars.

He felt like he could reach out and touch them, that’s how bright they were. It was like he was seeing them again for the first time. Everything he was feeling left to make way for the sense of awe and happiness that filled his body.

His mind flashed back to the first time he remembered looking up at the sky and stars and wondered if he would ever be more than what he was. He was skin and bone, illiterate, and becoming increasingly more hopeless; but every time he looked to the sky he felt like he had a chance to survive. He loved to look up and imagine what his life could be like, it was his favourite part of the day.

Just get through one more day and you can look up at the stars.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stared up at the sky. He had once dreamed of dying under these stars. When everything became too much to bear. When he was curling himself up to try and ignore the stomach cramps that came with starvation. When he was trying to make himself scarce so nobody would try and get the wrong idea. When he was walking through the markets trying to work up the courage to steal something.

Then Barnes came along and he saw something in Lance; something that he still didn’t know about. He gave Lance a chance to live and he jumped for it.

“Are you okay Lance?” Shiro asked with concern. Lance sniffed and nodded his head, reaching up to try and wipe away his tears.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, I was just remembering a lot of things,” he said softly, wrapping his hand around Shiro’s. “I miss my family,”

“Your family?”

“Yes, they probably think that I’m dead right now and I doubt that I’ll ever see them again,”

“I’m sorry,” was all Shiro could say.

“It’s alright, it’s better this way,” he admitted, tucking closer to Shiro’s side. With a bit of hesitance, he leaned against Shiro’s chest before completely relaxing against him.

He wouldn’t ever get the memories out of his head but for a moment, he let himself get lost in the stars again.

* * *

As they walked through the forest the next day, Shiro turned to Lance with a nervous expression. He stopped in his tracks and focused all his attention on him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked with worry.

“Nothing’s wrong, I just-I was wondering if you would-if you wanted to,” he stuttered out rubbing his hands nervously together.

“If I want to…” he helped, reaching out to grip Shiro’s hands in his own reassuringly. When Shiro’s wide eyes locked onto his face, he gave him a patient smile.

“I was wondering if you would want to meet my pod?” He blurted out.

“Your pod? Like, your family?” He asked in shock. Shiro’s cheeks were bright red and he nodded.

“I didn’t know if it would make you feel worse but I thought that maybe it would cheer you up?” Shiro suggested uncertainly.

“I’d love to!” He said with excitement.

“Really?”

“Of course I would, when are we going?” He asked, bright eyes staring at Shiro’s.

“Um, we can go right now,” he said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Let’s go!” He cheered latching onto Shiro’s arm. Shiro let out a happy laugh and nodded his head in agreement before leading Lance back to the beach.

“Now, we have to swim for a little bit,” he said hesitantly looking over at Lance. “And it’s underwater so I have to use my magic on you,”

“Okay, that’s fine,” Lance agreed. He waited in confusion as Shiro flushed red again and looked down at his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, for this particular spell to work, I kind of have to kiss you?” He admitted, nervously looking back at Lance’s face. Immediately, Lance’s face burned to match Shiro’s.

“Is that okay?” He asked.

Lance’s heart was pounding in his chest at the question. There was no doubt that Shiro wanted to introduce him to his family and he wanted to badly as well. Since losing everything he had, he yearned for the presence of a family again, he had Shiro and he knew that he had some feelings for him but he didn’t want to mess anything up. The way that Shiro was nervously looking at him though, told him everything that he needed to know. Shiro did have feelings for him too and maybe this would be the thing that would push them together.

“Yeah,” he said softly looking up at Shiro. Shiro’s eyes softened and a smile graced his face. He gently took Lance’s hand and started leading him into the water. Right before they got to the opening of the cove, Shiro turned to Lance and cupped his cheeks. Lance’s eyes fluttered closed as Shiro leaned down and connected their lips.

Magic rushed through him into Lance and he pulled back to give him a small smile.

“Let’s go,” he said wading out into the open ocean. The water simmered slightly around them as he transformed and dunked underneath the surface. He started in the direction of his home before he looked back and noticed that Lance was still paddling above the surface. With a confused hum, he breached the top and swam back to Lance.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. Lance looked over at him with nervous eyes and he looked around the ocean with something close to fear in his eyes.

“Last time I was out here, I almost died,” he said in a voice close to a whisper. Shiro’s eyes widened in realization. It was true, the last time he had been in the water was when Shiro rescued him. At least when he had been around he never was in the water.

Honestly, he didn’t know what to say. He understood why Lance would be afraid to tread deeper into the water but he couldn’t share the same fear. He had lived in that water his entire life, he knew of all the wonders that it held. He didn’t want to push Lance’s limits though, he still had no idea what had happened to him in the first place and it wasn’t his time to ask either.

There was one thing for sure though. He was going to help Lance love the ocean again.

With a comforting smile, he reached out his hand.

“Do you trust me?” He asked. Lance swallowed but nodded and put his hand in Shiro’s.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, running his hand through Lance’s hair before slowly submerging the both of them under the water. Lance gasped in a breath and closed his eyes as they sunk. He opened them slowly as Shiro brushed his hands soothingly over the sides of his face. The breath in his lungs left his chest as he stared around the underwater landscape. It was completely different from anything he remembered.

The usual blur that came with being underwater wasn’t hindering him as if he had a film over his eyes. He clearly saw all of the tropical fish swimming around them, the vibrant colours of the underwater plants and the blue water rolling into waves in the distance. He barely noticed that he was breathing on his own as he gazed at Shiro with amazement. He let out a bubbly chuckle and held on to Lance’s hand and started leading him into the deeper water.

“Do you like it?” Shiro asked looking over at Lance fondly. Lance let out a sigh of awe.

“It’s incredible,” he answered softly.

“I hope you have the same reaction when you meet my family,”


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t long until Shiro was leading Lance down to an underwater cave. Lance tightened his hold on Shiro’s hand nervously as they floated into the darkness. Shiro looked back at him reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be in here for long,” he said. Lance only nodded and looked forward, his eyes darting around nervously in the darkness. He pulled himself closer to Shiro and relaxed slightly when Shiro wrapped his arm around him.

“Is there anything I should know?” He asked hesitantly as they travelled through the blackness.

“Um, there’s nothing too specific I don’t think, Keith probably will be kind of cold to you at first but he’s harmless I swear,”

“Keith?”

“He’s my brother. Kind of. Well, we were raised together,” he explained.

“Is he a shark like you?” He asked, eager to learn anything about Shiro.

“No, I don’t think that I’ve ever found anyone like me,” he informed him. “Everyone else is fish merfolk,”

Suddenly he moved forward in a rush of bubbles as the exit to the cavern appeared. All Lance could see as they were speeding out of the darkness was white sand and colourful coral. A school of tropical fish spun around them as they burst out of the darkness and into the sunlight again.

He started hearing voices in the distant and looked over to see eagerness showing across Shiro’s face. As quickly as it appeared it disappeared and he looked sheepishly over at the pirate.

“One more thing, they don’t exactly know where I’ve been,” Lance gaped at him before a figure barrelled into Shiro’s side.

“SHIRO!” They shouted gleefully as they nuzzled into his skin.

“Pidge!” He yelled equally as loud, dropping Lance’s hand in order to wrap the small mermaid in a hug. Suddenly there was a group of merfolk surrounding the shark, nuzzling into his skin and chirping affectionately at him. Lance kicked back slightly, content to give the family their space as they reunited with their lost member.

He couldn’t believe that Shiro hadn’t told his family what he had been doing. It had been the thing that Lance wanted to avoid and why he had told him that he shouldn’t waste his time on him in the beginning. Obviously, though it was all his call.

The hurt still rose in his chest though when he saw how much they obviously cared for and worried about him while he was gone. If the sad whines and gripping hugs he was receiving from everyone was any sign.

“Who’s that?” Someone asked, finally noticing Lance waiting patiently off to the side. His head jolted up and took in the suspicious and somewhat angry looks he was receiving from the merfolk. Shiro untangled himself from the group and with a smile wrapped his arm around Lance to pull him forward.

“This is Lance, I rescued him from a storm,” he introduced happily.

“And what is he doing here?” A mermaid with dark skin and beautiful silver hair and tail demanded. Looking at Shiro’s surprised face, it didn’t seem to be her usual behaviour.

“I wanted him to meet you guys,” he explained softly, glancing at each of them in turn. Instead of letting them speak again, he turned to Lance and took his hand in his.

“Lance, this is my family,” at that any anger they had was switched with surprise. “First of all, this is Keith,” he said gesturing at a black-haired merman, with a ruby red tail. Lance sent him a smile but the merman only crossed his arms and glared at the pirate angrily. Lance tried not to be too discouraged and instead sent him a nod and looked down at the sand. Shiro sighed but didn’t acknowledge Keith’s behaviour before he moved on.

“This is Allura,” he said pointing to the dark-skinned mermaid that had been glaring at him before. Like Keith, she didn’t offer him any reassurance and Lance could feel both his and Shiro’s hopes sinking.

“Um, that’s Pidge and Matt, they’re siblings,” he explained as their focused shifted to the two merfolk. One was a small mermaid, the one that had crashed into Shiro earlier; she had an emerald green tail while the other was an older merman with an orangish red tail. They both had dirty blonde hair and golden eyes. Although they weren’t as openly hostile as the other merfolk, they were still looking at Lance with openly suspicious eyes.

“And this is Hunk,” he said lastly turning to the large dark skinned merman with a shining golden tail. Unlike the others, he had a wide smile on his face and was looking at Lance with glittering eyes. After Shiro introduced him, he rushed forward and took Lance’s hand in his.

“Oh my goodness, I’ve never seen a human up close before,” he gushed, pushing his face close to Lance to inspect him. Lance flinched slightly at the violation of personal space that got Hunk backing up sheepishly.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to get so excited,” he mumbled, anxiously rubbing his hands together in front of him. Lance snorting finally realizing where Shiro picked up the habit.

“No, it’s okay, I was just a little bit surprised is all,” he soothed, reaching out to put his hand on his shoulder.

“So are you the reason why Shiro disappeared?” Keith’s accusing voice interrupted Hunk’s next words.

“Keith!” Shiro admonished. Keith ignored him and swam into Lance’s space with dangerous eyes. Lance watched him warily as he circled him. At that point, he was wondering how on Earth Keith wasn’t a shark.

“Kind of,” he admitted.

“Kind of?”

“Well, I told him that he could leave but he insisted on staying,” he explained gesturing back at Shiro, who blushed and rubbed the neck of his neck awkwardly.

“It’s true,” he admitted sheepishly. He ignored the gasps that went through the small group and rushed to try and explain.

“Look, Lance was going to die if I didn’t stay there, he almost drowned after being tossed off of a ship, and then there was this huge storm-,”

“Wait! Tossed off a ship!?” Keith gasped turning to look at Lance with wide eyes. Lance blinked but hesitantly nodded.

“Was it pirates?” Pidge asked with wide eyes as she swam over.

“What?” He asked baffled, eyes searching each of theirs as they eagerly waited for an answer. Shiro let out a laugh beside him and put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, they’re just completely entranced by pirates for some reason, they honestly think they’re the coolest thing to be set on the ocean,” he explained.

“They are!” Keith insisted as if the very thought offended him. Shiro put up his hand in surrender and sent a smile to Lance.

“You only know things about them are from the journals and books Allura was able to gather,” Shiro offered lightheartedly.

“C’mon Shiro, you always thought they were pretty amazing,” Matt teased Shiro as he swam around to his other side and elbowed him in the ribs.

As Lance was listening to this group of merfolk gush over pirates and tease each other about said fact, he realized. He had never told Shiro that he was a pirate, let alone the captain of a pirate crew.

He contemplated telling them right then and there but as he listened to their conversation with a smile, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It was way too embarrassing.

* * *

He could confidently say that by the time evening rolled around, he was definitely warmed up to the rest of the pod. Even the merpeople that he met throughout the day; Alfor, Coran, Sam, Nyma, Rolo, and Shay. He hadn’t had much time to meet with them though since Hunk and Pidge were dragging him around the community to show him all of the important landmarks.

It was cliché but he wasn’t afraid to admit that it felt like he was always meant to meet these people. It felt like he was talking to an old friend when he had a conversation with Hunk. He felt like he had the siblings he always wanted as he teased and played around with Pidge and Matt. He couldn’t exactly say anything positive about Keith until he started busting out his stories from his ship (although he never said who was in the stories) and Keith listened with rapt attention.

Honestly, though, he could understand Keith’s wariness. He had taken his brother from him, from all of them really and they had no idea what happened to him. He really wasn’t to blame though and he promised himself that Shiro would be getting an earful when they were away from the others.

Allura, on the other hand, was still adjusting to his presence and he couldn’t help but hunch his shoulders whenever he felt her glare on his back. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one to notice though and finally he snapped at her.

“Could you please stop looking at Lance like he’s going to stab someone?” Shiro growled at the mermaid. She huffed and crossed her arms.

“For all, we know he could be from the military, they’re the ones hunting us you know,” she hissed back. Although the atmosphere demanded respect, Lance could help but let out a loud laugh and doubled over as he wheezed.

“What’s so funny?” She demanded with dangerous eyes. He tried to control his breathing and finally sucked in enough breath.

“Allura, I am so far from the military that they chuckled me overboard into a storm,” he explained breathlessly. Her eyes widened and her arms fell slack to her sides.

“It was the military that did that?” She asked in disbelief. Lance blinked and gave her a short nod.

“Yeah, they tied my arms behind my back and threw me into the water, if it wasn’t for Shiro I would be dead right now,” he said sending a grateful smile over to the merman.

“Okay enough of this death talk,” Hunk interrupted swimming between Lance and Allura. “Let’s go do something fun!” He cheered. Lance smiled and went to follow before he looked at the surface of the water and saw that the sky was beginning to get darker. He tapped on Shiro’s arm and pointed up to the surface, thankfully he took the hint and addressed the rest of the pod.

“The water’s going to be too cold for Lance soon so we’re going to have to head back now,” he said, barely flinching at the whines that came from the group.

“But you just came back!” Keith argued with a pout.

“It’s not like I’m going to be gone forever,” Shiro tried but Keith only turned his back on them.

“What if…you come back with us?” Lance suggested swimming forward a bit. Keith looked at him over his shoulder, his eye wide in surprise. “Just for the night or something, we could have a fire and I could tell more stories or something,”

He turned to Shiro and saw that he was smiling at him. He nodded his head in agreement and looked back at the rest of the group.

“We’re just staying on the island,” Shiro added, as if that was the only thing holding them back, they jumped at the chance and eagerly followed them as they started swimming. For all Lance knew, that was what was keeping them from joining them.

Just like before, Lance clung to Shiro, not trusting himself to navigate the dark. He thought that he heard snickering from behind him but he chose to ignore it and instead focus on thinking about a story to tell them once they got back and settled in the cove.

* * *

Turns out that he didn’t even have to think of one since they started singing halfway back and they didn’t stop even as they transformed and stepped out of the sea. It was mesmerizing to listen to them, it was like nothing he had ever heard before. They didn’t so much sing with words so much as long melodic notes that perfectly harmonized together. Even though they had been singing for hours now, they had yet to repeat a song and he realized that it must have been a big part of their lives yet Shiro never once sang in his presence before.

“Lance?” A voice called out to him.

“Hm?” He looked up and saw everyone looking at him with concern. “What?”

“Oh, you were kind of just sitting there…” Matt trailed off watching him. Lance quirked his brow in confusion.

“Yeah! Why aren’t you singing with us?” Pidge asked.

“Um, I don’t know any of the songs?” He shrugged. “Human songs are kind of different I guess, words and rhyming and stuff,”

“Why?” Hunk asked, genuinely curious.

“I don’t know, to put meaning into it I guess? So people can understand why the song was written; for love, or hate, or to remember someone or something?”

“How interesting, would you sing one for us?” Allura asked.

“Sing us a chantey!” Keith and Pidge demanded at the same time. Lance laughed and shook his head.

“A chantey is a working song, you need a whole crew to sing one but there is a [song](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0e4Crth_Hb8&t=NDcyNzliYjI2ZGRhYjg4NzY0NzE2NGRlOGIzZjcyMmI5ZDNjZmQ2Nix0bjRMUGNneA%3D%3D&b=t%3AE-L2bp5HJb6C6IAx7eY2RA&p=https%3A%2F%2Fblueplanettrash.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F171677293004%2Fmy-treasure-part-3&m=1) that I was taught,” he explained. He watched as the group huddled closer to Lance and watched him with glittering eyes.

“There are loved ones in the glory, whose dear forms you often miss; when you close your earthly story, will you join them in their bliss?” He started quietly. It had been a while since he last sang this song. In fact, he last sang it during a quiet night on the Blue Lion while they were docked at an island. Barnes brought out his guitar and quietly strummed along for him.

“Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting? In the sky, in the sky?”

“In the joyous days of childhood, oft they told of wondrous love, pointed to the dying Saviour; now they dwell with Him above,” just singing this song was making him think about what he lost and what he didn’t know if he lost yet. He didn’t know if his family was safe, he didn’t know if Lotor had just tossed them off the side of the ship when they were far enough away or if they were left to die on some island.

“Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting? In the sky, in the sky?”

“You remember songs of heaven, which you sang with childish voice, do you love the hymns they taught you, or are songs of earth your choice?”

“Will the circle be unbroken. By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting? In the sky, in the sky?”

“You can picture happy gath’rings. ‘Round the fireside long ago, and you think of tearful partings, when they left you here below,” he could hear and feel his throat begin to wobble slightly and slur his singing. He was ashamed when his eyes started filling with water but continued through his song as if nothing was wrong.

“Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting? In the sky, in the sky?”

“One by one their seats were emptied, and one by one they went away; now the family is parted, will it be complete one day?” All he wanted was for them to know that he was okay. To just see them one last time, that’s all he was asking for.

“Will the circle be unbroken? By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting? In the sky, in the sky?” He went quiet and looked down at the sand under his feet. Tears rolled down his face and his breaths came in stuttering gasps. He leaned into Shiro’s side as he wrapped his arm around Lance’s shoulders.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly. Lance debated lying to him so that he wouldn’t press further but honestly, he was so emotionally drained at that point that he could care less.

“No,” he rasped, looking at the fire. “I started thinking about my family again, I can’t get Barnes’ face out of my head. I’ve never seen him look like that. Like his whole world was falling apart,” he explained quietly with a short sniff.

“Who’s Barnes?” Hunk asked hesitantly. Lance’s eyes slid to him but he could only see genuine concern on the boy’s face.

“The man who raised me,” he answered shortly. “He saved my life. He was on the ship that night and saw me get tossed,”

“I’m so sorry Lance,” Shiro said honestly, looking into his eyes sorrowfully. Lance swallowed and leaned his cheek against Shiro and closed his eyes as pain washed over him. It wasn’t physical, it was emotional pain and it was so heavy. His form trembled lightly and he wrapped his arms around himself. It was then that he realized that he hadn’t truly allowed himself to mourn.

“It’s okay Shiro, it wasn’t your fault. Besides, I have you guys,” he stated quietly gazing at the group with a watery smile. At that, they started nodding vigorously and hopped up to wrap themselves around him.

“Don’t worry Lance, no matter what you’ll have us now,” Matt declared.

“Thank you,” he said softly. They backed up and sat back around the fire, content in the silence that overtook them.

“Um, I have a question,” Lance said after a few minutes of silence. “How come you guys only wanted to come when Shiro said that we were on the island?”

Instead of answering right away they looked to Allura who looked to be debating something in her head. A couple of moments later she nodded her head and looked at Lance.

“Hidden on this island is the source of all merfolk magic, we call it quintessence,”


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn’t often that Lance contemplated the existence of magic. He couldn’t use it, so why try to understand why it worked. Most sailors, particularly pirates shared that point of view with him and treated such magical creatures with respect when they came across them. The military didn’t see it that way though and actively tried to seek out and capture them in order to study them and attempt to use their powers for their own gain.

When Allura told him that their power stemmed from a single source on the island, he was understandably shocked. All those years of hunting and capturing by the military to no use to them and they would never know or believe the merfolk they caught.

“That’s terrible,” he breathed out after she finished her tale.

“Yes but luckily we were able to chase off the only other person that has made it to this island,”

“Yeah! We beat Zarkon’s tail!” Matt cheered, the rest of the merfolk echoing back the excitement. They didn’t notice Lance’s face go pale. Shiro, however, felt when he started shaking in fear.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” He asked with concern.

“Did you say Zarkon?”

“Yes? Why? Do you know who he is?”

 **“** Yes, he’s the fleet admiral of the military, he’s extremely powerful,” Lance revealed, hunching into himself before leaning more into Shiro’s side.

“That can’t be, it was years ago, he was almost dead after he left the island,” Allura argued, hope in her eyes.

“Don’t underestimate humans, we may not have magic to help us but we’re extremely stubborn and we won’t just go down without a fight, especially someone as important and strong as he is,”

The rest of the night, they sat in silence. The new sense of paranoia tickling in their minds. They attempted to brush it off, perfectly confident in their safety.

That didn’t know how wrong they really were.

* * *

Lance woke up when his face suddenly dropped into the sand. With a start he shot up and saw that the merfolk were frantically looking around, nervousness dripping off of them.

“Guys? What’s wrong?” He asked anxiously, eyes darting to each one of them.

“They’re taking it,” Matt said pacing up and down the small beach before suddenly sprinting off into the woods.

“What? Who’s taking what?” He tried to ask but they were rapidly running off into the woods before only Lance and Shiro were left on the beach but even he was twitchy, just barely able to keep himself from following in his pod’s steps.

“The quintessence, someone is trying to take it, it’s time for us to fight,” he quickly explained as he started walking towards the woods. Before he made the tree line, he whipped around to face Lance who was quickly following behind him.

“Don’t follow me,” he ordered sternly. Lance blinked in shock before shaking his head and stalking forward again.

“I can help fight,” he argued glaring up into his eyes.

“This isn’t your fight Lance!”

“You said it yourself, I would always have you guys, that means we’re family! Let me fight for you!” He screamed.

“I can’t lose you!” He screamed back, Lance drew back in surprise. “I can’t lose you okay?”

“Shiro, please,” he tried, reaching forward to lay his hand on his chest. His heart was beating sporadically in his chest, betraying just how scared he really was. “I know how to fight, just give me the chance,”

“Lance, you don’t even have any shoes on, you’ve been wearing the same threadbare clothes the entire time you’ve been here,” he tried to reason, cupping his cheek.

“And you’ve been walking around naked,” he shot back. Shiro rolled his eyes.

“It’s different, I’ve got armoured scales, I’ve got claws and teeth, I’ve got magic to defend myself with,” he listed off, each becoming louder than the rest as if trying to nail in his point to Lance. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, please just stay here,”

With that, he turned and sprinted off into the forest, following whatever instinct the others had. Lance’s brain was trying to sort out his rushing thoughts. The island was under attack by someone, the quintessence was in danger of being stolen, there was going to be a fight, Shiro didn’t want him to fight, Shiro didn’t want to see him get hurt.

“But I don’t want to see you hurt either idiot,” he muttered to himself before clenching his teeth and following their lead into the woods.

“Shit,” he hissed, trying to track any sort of trail that they might have left, but after months of him stomping through the woods, he couldn’t find any viable direction. Instead, he started towards the far side of the island and through the hanging vines that hid the mouth of the cavern. Thankfully it was a straight path to the top and he didn’t get lost, at least that went well for him.

All he needed was to find the source of the fighting and it would be a straight shot to help the merfolk. He wasn’t exactly sure how much he would actually be contributing but something was better than nothing at all.

Almost immediately he saw hordes of people running through the trees and bursts of magic raising in almost the direct middle of the island. Down the shore, not actually that far from the cove he saw the tall mast of a military ship, the signature flag flapping in the wind. Beside it, however, was a slightly larger ship and the flag…

“No,” he breathed out in amazement. What were the chances?

It was the Blue Lion. In all her glory.

Without a beat of hesitation, he was racing through the woods on nothing but pure joy at seeing his prized possession. It was even greater to see her up close. Knowing that Lotor was the one that was attempting to steal the quintessence, he quietly started climbing up the side of the ship, looking over his shoulder every once in a while.

His crew had been tied to the masts of the ship, to keep them from moving until Lotor and his soldiers returned to set sail.

“He believed that we would attempt to ruin his mission,” Barnes informed him as he cut them loose.

“I have to fight him,” he said, sawing through the last of the rope and setting his crew free.

“Why? We can raid their ship and depart before they make it back,” Barnes argued, following him across the deck. He went through the door to his quarters, barely flinching at the obvious attempt to rid the cabin of his possessions. As luck would have it, Lotor kept his clothes in plain view as some sort of sick trophy and he quickly started dressing.

“They’re trying to take the merfolk magic off the island,” he tried as he stepped into his boots and pulled on his long coat.

“They can’t take it off the island if we’re already gone,” he shot back as Lance walked behind his desk and crouched to pull open the secret hatch under it. With a relieved sigh, he pulled the twin flintlock pistols still in their holsters to his chest.

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be alive right now Barnes,” he finally admitted, buckling his holsters around his waist. He grabbed his hat and walked back onto the deck. “I owe them my life,”

His entire crew was watching the two of them.

His eyes drifting across the deck taking in each of his crew. His throat closed up for a second as he fully realized that his family was back with him. It had been months and they were right in front of him.

“Look, I’m not going to ask you to fight with me, I understand that you want to be as far away from Lotor as possible but I’m going back into those woods no matter what. So I need to know if this is a hello, or a goodbye,”

Silence fell upon them and they started glancing at each other in silent question.

Then the sound of a sword being drawn drifted across the deck. One by one, they started unsheathing their swords, unholstering their guns with determined smiles.

“I think you have your answer Captain,” Barnes commented, with a smirk.

Lance chuckled, pressing his hat on his head.

“PREPARE FOR BATTLE LADS!”

“AYE CAPTAIN!” They bellowed back, raising their weapons.

* * *

Shiro huffed and puffed, fighting to keep the soldiers away from the quintessence. Every now and then a pulse of pure energy would run through him and he shot out a wave of magic.

All in all, they were pretty evenly matched, their lack of guns and heavy weaponry was balanced out by their ability to use magic. However, it didn’t help that they were quickly running out of energy and wouldn’t be able to protect the quintessence for much longer. There were just too many of them to face off against forever.

 _“I’m sorry Lance,”_ he thought as one of the soldiers leapt forward, arm and sword outstretched towards him.

Suddenly a shot went off, going clean through the soldiers head. As if the shot was a starting signal, people started sprinting out of the woods all around them. He braced for an attack but they only ran around them going straight for the uniformed soldiers.

“TAKE NO PRISONERS!” They screamed together, attacking the soldiers, pulling them off of merfolk, standing in front of them as their magic recharged or they took a quick breath. All throughout the battle, shots were being fired, expertly taking out extra soldiers. Shiro’s eyes were darting around in amazement, he could hardly believe the support they were getting. Maybe Keith was right to be amazed by pirates, in some ways they were like merfolk. Magic.

“SHIRO THE QUINTESSENCE!” Allura suddenly shouted, prompting him to turn.

As Lotor picked up the small orb that contained their power, all movement stopped and they watched him pick it up with a manic smile.

“The power is mine now, you all obey me!” He laughed, holding the quintessence above him. Their hearts were sinking in their chests. They had fought so hard for it, to fight against the holder wasn’t possible, it would only redirect their powers on themselves.

“Bow down to me! Bow down to your new leader!” He demanded with a wide smirk. He watched helplessly as he presented it for all of them to see.

“I don’t think so,” the barrel of Lance’s flintlock pressed against the back of Lotor’s head. He fully stepped out of the woods behind Lotor, brushing away the foliage like a cloak.

“Lance?!” Shiro cried out in confusion. It was like he was completely transformed. The raggedy, unclean castaway he had known for months was completely gone.

“That’s me,” he replied confidently with a sweet smile before pushing Lotor forward with only the tip of his gun. Shiro turned flipping one of the soldiers over his head as he fought back into the fray.

“Put down the quintessence Lotor, my crew has you completely surrounded, there’s no escape,” he sneered. Lotor’s shoulders started shaking, laughs bubbling out of his mouth.

“Crew? A bunch of no good, low life pirates? You think they can take down all of my generals!?” He crowed tilting his head to look back at Lance, who only smirked in reply.

“Don’t underestimate us, we’ve fought for our shite lives time and time again, you only know how to beg for your life and take the easy way out,” he sneered nodding his head towards the quintessence Lotor still held aloft.

“Hmm, fair enough,” Lotor considered, tilting his head in thought. “Still, I’m better than any bilge rat on that laughable ship of yours,”

Lance let out a growl, throwing his knee into the back of Lotor’s leg. His knees buckled with a grunt and he collapsed on the ground. Before he fell forward, Lance snatched the quintessence out of his hand. Lotor climbed back to his hands and knees, only to be forced back down by Lance’s boot in the middle of his back.

“This was really quite boring compared to the first time I met you, now that was really something,”

“Oh don’t you worry Captain, I always have something up my sleeve,” he hissed. Lance blinked, eye darting around the group. Unconsciously, his eyes made their way to Shiro who was taking soldiers down in numbers.

“That one huh? I had a feeling you would be drawn to the tall burly type,” Lotor cackled. His boot pressed harder into his back as his eyes frantically searched the area for any hidden threats. Shiro was strong, no doubt about it, but anyone could be taken down if they’re hit off guard.

Lotor was still cackling underneath his foot. He could see his general’s bodies strewn around the battlefield. They must have been as strong as Lotor thought they were, he remembered them; Ezor, Acxa, and Zethrid. But, wasn’t there one more? His mind was cloudy. Why couldn’t he remember? There must have been only three. But that couldn’t be right, it wasn’t right he was sure of it.

She was quiet. She never talked to any of them, not even Lance. Who was she? Who was she? Who was she?

Narti. An assassin. She was an assassin.

His gaze snapped up to the treetops.

There she was, waiting like a shadow directly above Shiro. Her muscles tensed, waiting with narrowed eyes as Shiro finished off the soldier. The battle around them was slowing as the pirates and merfolk chased off, killed, and maimed the remaining soldiers, still unaware of the lingering danger their ally was in.

He wasn’t even thinking when he moved. Just the realization that he wasn’t standing over Lotor any longer and Shiro was quickly becoming larger in his vision. Then he was on the ground.

He still clutched the quintessence in his hand, refusing to let in back in Lotor’s hands.

 _“Why am I on the ground?”_ He thought to himself, his head tilted to the side. The pulsing in his own head was too loud to hear anything else. With a single blink, suddenly he was in Shiro’s arms, limp against his chest.

He was crying.

Why was he crying?

He tried to reach up and wipe away the tears and ask him what was wrong. They had won, he should be happy and celebrating their victory. Instead, he was crying and clutching onto his neck for dear life.

His neck?

Why?

All at once, all senses rushed back over him. Mournful cries surrounded the entire area, Shiro’s tears dropped onto his face, the coppery smell of blood filled his nose.

“Shiro?” He rasped before he jolted as pain laced down his neck and shoulder. Shiro let out a gasp and frantically brushed his hand through his hair and down the side of his face.

“It’s okay Lance, it’s okay,” he tearfully soothed. Lance’s wide eyes caught his.

“W-what?”

“You’ve been stabbed, it-it’s not good Lance,” he regretfully admitted. He wasn’t shocked, not that he would be going out with a stab wound at least. He was just surprised that it took this long.

Shiro knew as well as he did that humans, even merfolk don’t always walk away from battle. He always believed that there would be a battle that he wouldn’t come back from, he didn’t think that it would be after finding someone he loved.

“We’re family right Shiro?” He asked quietly giving him a small smile. Shiro let out a hiccuped sob, leaning forward to press his forehead to Lance’s. Even in the humid weather of the island, the warmth was quickly draining from Lance’s body.

“We’re family Lance, of course, we’re family,” he promised. In his mind he prayed to every god he knew of, begging to just let him have Lance. They could take anything they possibly wanted from him, just keep Lance alive and breathing.

“Thank you, Shiro,” he whispered, his eyes were quickly becoming cloudy even as he kept his smile spread across his face.

“Lance?” Shiro tried hopefully.

“I love you, Shiro,” he breathed out with his last gasp of air. His arm slid out of Shiro’s grip and fell to the forest floor, the orb of quintessence quietly rolling out of reach.

Shiro sat still in shock, watching the blood flow slowly stop just as Lance’s heart had.

“Lance?” He tried, gently shaking him as if to rouse him from a deep sleep. It couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be.

“Lance, please! I need you! You can’t be gone!” He pleaded, hugging him tightly to his chest as gut-wrenching sobs poured out of his mouth. This couldn’t be the end for them. They had so many things to do together. There were so many things that he wanted to give to Lance, so many places he wanted to take him.

His face was getting paler by the second, any sign of life whisked away in the wind. Everything around Shiro was getting dull. Nothing else mattered. It never would matter. Not without him.

“I love you,” he finally whispered, curling around Lance’s body.

The merfolk and pirates gathered around their fallen brother, their heads bent in mourning. Tears fell to the ground like rain from the sky.

The pirates had reunited with their young captain again, only to lose him again a short time later. When he had been tossed overboard, they knew there was a chance he was alive. This time, the pain cut straight through them.

The merfolk had lost their newly found family member, someone who was grateful for the life he was trapped with on their little island and had found love within their community. Not many losses had cut that close to their hearts.

“Everybody step back,” Allura suddenly ordered with a gasp. They did so as they lifted their heads in confusion.

The quintessence. It was glowing. Brighter than it ever had before.

“What is happening?” Barnes hissed, backing up into a defensive position, carefully keeping his eye on Shiro and Lance.

“I don’t know, nothing like this has ever happened before,” she answered.

It pulsed brighter and brighter, the light starting to form into a shape in front of their eyes. With a final flash, they were in the company of a whole other being.

“What is that?” Barnes breathed out as the creature stalked towards Shiro.

“It’s our protector,” Allura finally said in awe.

“Your protector is a-a,”

Blue lion. A glowing blue lion.

Shiro didn’t look up as the blue glow cast across Lance’s face. He was too caught in his mind, thinking of their unattainable opportunities. He deserved so much more than this.

It was only at the sound of a deep rumbling purr that he saw the blue lion standing in front of them.

 ** _“You are hurting child,”_** a voice echoed through his head.

“Yes,” he rasped, gently carding his fingers through Lance’s hair. “He’s dead,”

“ ** _He is a special one. One I have been waiting for, for many years. Do not worry my child, his story does not end here,”_** the voice said before the lion pushed her head against Lance’s, just like he had before. The glow from her body gently seeped into his, warming his skin against Shiro’s body. He gasped, tightly holding onto Lance as he watched the blue lion in amazement.

His skin slowly brightened, the colour in his lips and cheeks returned, and he sluggishly blinked his eyes as they returned to their former glory. The blue lion backed off, slowly disappearing back into the orb as Shiro’s eyes darted across Lance’s face trying to take in every last detail.

“Shiro?” His face scrunched up as tears once again fell and he cradled Lance’s face in the crook of his neck. He pulled away and quickly pressed a kiss to Lance’s lips.

“I love you, Lance, I love you so much, I’m so happy that you’re alive, are you okay?” He quickly rambled, searching Lance’s face for any sign of pain.

“No, I-I’m okay,” he said in disbelief, fingers brushing against the almost dried blood on his neck. “It doesn’t hurt,”

Shiro let out a huge sigh of relief, pushing himself up before holding his hand out for Lance as well. As he got to his feet, the rest of the group took it as a sign to approach. They cheered and ran forward, the crew wrapping their arms around him in celebration. Allura carefully walked around them and picked up the quintessence, gently placing it back on its pedestal.

“Thank you,” she whispered to it before turning and running to join the celebration.

Nobody saw it pulse happily as they walked away.

* * *

“We’re ready to set sail Captain,” Barnes announced as he approached the captain, still surrounded by several merfolk, with the others keeping close watch of them nearby. He was followed by the rest of the crew, already having taken care of pilfering the last of the military ship’s supplies.

Lance turned to him in surprise and realization. He quickly brushed his hand down Shiro’s cheek before walking over to him a sad smile on his face.

“Ready to go?” He asked eyebrow quirked teasingly, glancing over his shoulder at the merman. In response, Lance let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the ground.

“I can’t go with you Barnes,” he said hesitantly looking up at Barnes’ face. He was shocked to see a smile on Barnes’ face.

“I thought you might say that,” he admitted. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small, worn leather journal and handed it to Lance.

“What’s this?” He asked, turning it back and forth in his hand.

“When I first picked you off the streets, you would come and tell me about your dreams in the middle of the night, you never talked about them in the morning so I suspect that you never remembered them but I wrote them all down for you,” he said, tapping his finger against the leather cover. Lance quirked a brow at him in confusion, it didn’t exactly sound like something that Barnes would normally do.

“Why? Doesn’t that seem a little unnecessary?”

“I thought so at first but they all were about the same thing, I didn’t think anything of it until I came here,” he admitted thoughtfully.

“What are you talking about?”

“You always had dreams about a blue lion, I imagine that’s why you named your ship the way you had, but seeing what I did today, there may be more to it than you or I will ever understand,”

He didn’t know what to think. All he knew about a blue lion was his ship and whatever Shiro had told him about after he apparently died. Whatever the case, he had his entire life to find the answers. For now, he had a family to say goodbye to and another to become accustomed to.

“Thank you for everything Barnes,” he said reaching up to take off his hat and held it out for Barnes to take. His eyes were darting between the hat and Lance’s face in disbelief. After a few seconds, he took it uncertainly.

“What?”

“The Blue Lion is yours, Barnes, I couldn’t find anyone I trust more with her,” he smiled gently. “I know the hat’s not really your style but you can fix it,” he joked gesturing to the feathers attached to the side. Barnes let out a loud laugh before putting the hat on.

“Thank you, Lance,” he said earnestly as the crew let out cheers behind him. He turned ready to head off before Lance reached out and grabbed his arm.

“What did you see in me that day? What made you pick me off the streets?” He asked, the question had always been in the back of his mind but he had been too afraid to ask it.

“When I found you, you should have been dead, anyone else would have been, but you were fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. You weren’t angry at the world for what it had taken away from you; you were fighting to try and take it back. I saw how much you wanted to survive and I couldn’t just stand there and watch you die, especially after seeing how hard you fought,”

Lance jumped forward with a cry, hugging Barnes tightly.

“Thank you for always taking care of me,” he whispered. He could have been left there and no one would have given a single damn about it. Anybody else wouldn’t have been bothered by it. The only inconvenience would have been cleaning his body off of the street when he finally died there.

“I would do it all over again in a heartbeat,” he promised, curling over him protectively with a sad smile.

As they watched the Blue Lion slowly fade away from their vision, Shiro wrapped his arm around Lance’s waist, holding him protectively to his side. He looked down at the journal in his hand, wondering about its contents. He had never known anything about the life he had before the streets. He didn’t know anything about where he was from. He tucked it into the pocket of his coat; let it be a mystery for all he cared. There were more important issues at hand.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were a pirate captain,”

Like telling Keith more stories.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit my tumblr at blueplanettrash!


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